postscript: a journal of graduate criticism and theoryis a peer-reviewed, multi-disciplinary journalpublished annually by graduate students in theDepartment of English Language and Literature atMemorial University of Newfoundland. Students eithercurrently enrolled in a post-graduate program orhaving recently graduated from one are invited tosubmit papers for a special issue exploring the malland its itinerant shoppers.

The current trend of constructing “giant” mallsindicates that shopping today is based not onnecessity but on the excessive availability of space,products, and entertainment. The very size of the mallnow encourages the shopper to spend much more timeexploring its complex geography, its meandering alleysand distant trajectories that may lead towards somehopeful bargain. While the shops of old may have beendesigned to fulfil needs, today’s malls seem to createthem. The promise of multiple products (hair gel thatwill hold for hours, deodorant that will last fordays, and furniture that will last for years) andassorted entertainment (playgrounds for children, pubsfor adults) necessitates further shopping. Such is theexperience of Jack Gladney, the narrator of DonDeLillo’s White Noise (1985), who embarks on ashopping frenzy as a form of therapy: “I shopped withreckless abandon. I shopped for immediate needs anddistant contingencies. I shopped for its own sake,looking and touching, inspecting merchandise I had nointention of buying, then buying it.” The function ofthe mall, DeLillo suggests, is to “fill out” thecustomer, to find the gaps in the consumer’s life—whythree sweaters when you can have several? Why one TVwhen you can have two? While this passage may strikesome as a satirical comment on compulsive and mindlessshopping, it also underscores the role of consumptionas art form, a more recent understanding of the“shopper” as active agent or as bricoleur—someone whomanipulates and converts the products s/he consumes.For this special issue, postscript seeks submissionsthat explore the dynamics of the mall space and therole of the shopper, and that engage or interrogatecurrent notions of consumption, use, and creativity asthey relate to the mall.

Papers should be 3000-5000 words, unpublished, and inMLA format. Submitted essays are subjected to blindreview by either graduate students or faculty members,depending on the area of specialization. For purposesof anonymity, your name should not appear anywhere onthe paper. Please enclose a cover page with the titleof your paper, your name, address, telephone number,email address, institutional affiliation, and a briefbiographical note. Submissions must include three hardcopies and a disk copy of the paper in Wordperfectformat only. Papers will only be returned if adocument-sized SASE is included (internationalsubmissions must include a postal coupon).

postscript also welcomes original cover artsubmissions designed for a 7" x 10" space. Pleaseinclude a cover letter with the title of the work,your contact information, and a brief biographicalnote. We strongly encourage that cover art submissionsinclude either a disk or CD with the image or imagessubmitted for consideration. All submissions mustinclude a signed letter or release form, giving theartist’s permission for the piece to be used bypostscript. Again, submissions will only be returnedto those who include the appropriate SASE.